1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a washing machine and, more particularly, to a washing machine, in which the movement of a dial knob is reduced.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a washing machine is an apparatus, which washes laundry by repeating washing and rinsing operations. The washing machine performs the washing of the laundry by lifting and dropping the laundry, or using friction between the laundry.
A washing machine, which is disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 10-2002-0020329, comprises a control panel, which is installed on the upper portion of the front surface of a housing forming the external appearance of the washing machine, and is provided with a dial knob and various operation buttons for allowing a user to select washing machine functions to operate the washing machine, and a circuit board installed in the control panel for controlling internal devices of the washing machine so that an operation inputted through the dial knob and the operation buttons is performed.
A through-hole is formed through the control panel so that the dial knob passes through the through hole of the control panel and is installed on the circuit board, and an encoder, on which marks, such as characters, are printed so that the user may identify the functions selected through the dial knob, is installed in the through-hole.
A rotary switch rotated by the dial knob for selectively performing the functions of the washing machine, LEDs for generating light to improve the identification of the marks printed on the encoder, and an encoder bracket for protectively covering the LEDs and guiding the light generated from the LEDs to the encoder are installed on the circuit board.
A rotary shaft, which is connected to the rotary switch so as to rotate the rotary switch together with the rotation of the dial knob, is installed on the center of the dial knob, and a shaft receiving hole for allowing the rotary shaft of the dial knob to pass through the encoder bracket and to be connected to the rotary switch is installed on the encoder bracket.
In the above washing machine, in order to smoothly rotate the dial knob, the outer cylindrical surface of the rotary shaft and the inner cylindrical surface of the shaft receiving hole must be spaced from each other by a designated interval.
When the interval between the outer cylindrical surface of the rotary shaft and the inner cylindrical surface of the shaft receiving hole is broad, the dial knob moves in the radial direction through the interval, and it is difficult to provide the reliance on stability of the washing machine product. On the other hand, when the interval between the outer cylindrical surface of the rotary shaft and the inner cylindrical surface of the shaft receiving hole is narrow, the outer cylindrical surface of the rotary shaft easily rubs against the inner cylindrical surface of the shaft receiving hole, and the dial knob may not be smoothly rotated.